By Chris J. Walker
aron! is a new Miami-native singer that you might be hearing more about in the future. He somewhat sounds like soothing artists Kenny Rankin and Michael Franks of yester year at different points and is a dreamy romantic. His recently released debut EP is COZY YOU (AND OTHER NICE SONGS) and he did a showcase for it at The Buffalo Club. Backed by his equally young mates, the budding vocalist jumped into the breezy title song that was layered with light combo backing. They kept the gentle vibe going with “Eggs in The Morning (With Toast),” and more lively “Close But No Cigar” that’s not on the new recording.
He switched over to solo piano, while continuing friendly banter for the ballad “It’s a Wonderful Thing (to Fall in Love With You).” While still on piano he time travelled about 100 years back for the swinging 1920’s Jazz Age styled “I Think About You A Lots.” Light ukulele-like guitar strumming, bass and drumming generated an airy background for it.
Surprisingly, the group and singer also incorporated bossa for “A Table For Two” and included a zippy guitar solo. For more variety aron! lushly sang the ballad “Rain in Miami” that alternated between being silky and lightly rhythmic. The closing song, not on the EP, “Bicycle For Two” was much livelier and more contemporary sounding to indicate the singer and group can easily go beyond vintage jazz styled songs. For more info go to: aron.komi.io and www.ververecords.com.
The ever busy, vocalist/songwriter/producer and educator Cathy Segal-Garcia had a CD Release Party for her latest recording Social Anthems Vol. 2 at The Baked Potato. She was supported by a mighty band, made up of John Leftwich-bass, Carey Frank-keyboards, Steve Hass-drums, Jake Chapman-vibes and Will Brahm-guitar. They got down to business doing a funk/grooving mash of Marvin Gaye’s enduring urban soul classics “Inner City Blues” and “Make Me Wanna Holler.”
Digging further into the urban soul of the ‘70s was Stevie Wonder’s commentative classic “Living For The City,” with colleague, vocalist Mon David, who’s also on the album for that song, helping out. Additionally, Frank, Chapman and Brahm injecting scintillating touches. The crowd was blown away and hungered for more. In response, Segal-Garcia and her cohorts served up Sting’s poignant anti-war plea “Russians” and her own “My Russia” with David and also Kanga LaVrado contributing harmonies.
The bandleader showcased another one of her tunes from the album, relaxingly sung and scatted “The Beginning of You” that was fueled by jazzy organ and bass playing/soloing. In the same mode, with vibes and guitar highlighting was Crosby, Stills & Nash’s celebrated ‘60s themed mantra, “Suite: Judy Blue Eyes” featuring Segal-Garcia’s melodious singing and David adding more vocal flavor. Ending the interesting and memory inducing set was a funk/grooving dance version of “Inner City Blues” and “Make Me Wanna Holler” remixed by Mike Kapitan. For more info go to: www.cathysegalgarcia.com and www.thebakedpotato.com.
Sheléa, a fast-rising Grammy-nominated singer/songwriter/producer and actress, born in Redwood City and raised in Bakersfield, had an intimate conversation with David Mitchell, Publisher & Founder of the Music Industry Quarterly at The Aster. The event was in conjunction with Black Music Month and the multi-talented artist spoke very candidly about her background, faith and career milestones.
Among them was her recent salute to the legendary Aretha Franklin on PBS. She recalled that the show debuted at the Royal Albert Hall in London in 2022 with Jules Buckley conducting. It drew rave reviews and toured successfully around Europe. Sheléa felt it needed to be seen in the U.S. and an opportunity came up for it to be recorded with PBS (her 10th with the network) in Orange County with Ricky Minor conducting. The singer also detailed the inspiration, rehearsals (one) and song selection that included several Franklin rarities. Upon Mitchell’s request, she played piano and did an impromptu snippet of Franklin’s “Until You Come Back to Me,” while injecting some humor to get the audience chuckling.
The singer also emotionally spoke about Whitney Houston, who she also never met. She mentioned doing a tribute to the now-deceased star. Upon hearing it, her daughter Bobby Christina told Sheléa that she captured her mother’s spirit and she would have been proud of her. In honor of Houston and Chaka Khan she sang “Saving All My Love For You” and “Through the Fire” to further excite the crowd.
Uniquely, heavyweight singers, musicians and producers such as Stevie Wonder, Quincy Jones, David Foster and Ricky Minor have been very important in Sheléa’s career. She admitted that one relationship led to another and engineer/producer Tony Shepperd introduced her to Take 6 and Roy Hargrove to record “Someone to Watch Over Me.” Wonder, a big fan of the a cappella group heard the song and wanted to meet her. He then asked if she would perform for his House of Toys Christmas Benefit shows with Ricky Minor being the Music Director.
Afterwards, Minor started including her in his assorted projects, like performing at the White House for President Obama (twice), the Kennedy Center Honors and Quincy Jones’ house for his private parties and a residency at a club in Dubai. She met Foster when he was working with Wonder on a project and needed a singer. Overall, she tries to be easy to work with, prepared and “the smallest diva in the room.”
Wrapping things up, Sheléa talked about her new singles “Time Machine” and “Never Give Up On Love,” along with her forthcoming EP, “Spirit.” In performance, she powerfully sang and played gospel-tinged “Never Give Up On Love.” Q&A with the audience included topics—what she does to feed her artistry when not working-she’s not drained and is open to learning and hearing new songs, and her thoughts about new singers-some musicality has been lost due to little music in schools, but there are still some great young musicians and singers around. For more info go to: www.sheleamusic.com and www.theasterla.com.
Sheléa, a Grammy-nominated singer/keyboardist/producer/actress highlighted ICY’s (International Youth Orchestra Los Angles) 17th season Finale Concert at Disney Hall. The orchestra was conducted by its Director and Founder Charles Dickerson, who prepared the youthful ensemble and kept them all on-point for a variety of selections and suites.
The featured vocalist, wearing a dazzling gown was part of a special segment A Tribute to Quincy Jones (she was his protégée), and the Black Divas of Soul. She began passionately singing the Queen of Soul, Aretha Franklin’s “Till You Come Back To Me.” Sheléa’s own ballad-like “Something Coming” was actually about herself, who she jokingly referred to as “A Diva in Development.”
Following that, she shifted to playing piano and powerfully singing “Somewhere” from the acclaimed musical West Side Story dedicated to Jones and Diana Ross with silky orchestration. For a bit of amusement, Sheléa segued into Name That Diva to test the audience’s knowledge with snippets of songs by Whitney Houston, Sarah Vaughan, Roberta Flack, Gladys Knight and Etta James. The special singer concluded her part of the program unbelievably singing Houston’s “Home,” which has similarities to Contemporary Christian singer Sandi Patti’s “Love Overflowing.”
The bulk of the program exhibited ICY’s extraordinary skills performing works by mostly African-American composers. Among them was the ground-breaking William Grant Still’s Festive Overture and Adagio Cantabile by Robert Nathaniel Dett. Elements: Concierto for Four Instruments and Orchestra was performed in conjunction with the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra (LACO). ICY also collaborated with the Orange County-based New Hope Orchestra for Saint-Sanes’ Royal March of the Lion, Bizet’s Carmen Suite, and Ginastera’s Four Dances From Estancia. For more info go to: sheleamusic.com, icyola.org, www.laco.org and mynewhopepres.org.
Josh Nelson, one of Los Angeles’ top jazz piano players is constantly in motion as a solo artist, Musical Director and a sideman for a variety of artists and styles. As a leader he’s released about a dozen albums and a third of them are part of his highly creative Discovery Project series. It ambitiously incorporates science, science fiction and space exploration, along with Los Angeles’ history and literary themes.
At the intimate Boston Court, the pianist with longtime friends/collaborators, singers Kathleen Grace and Lillian Sengpiehl, bassist Karl McComas-Reichl and drummer Dan Schnelle showcased a diverse collection of pieces that he called “an overview.” It began with two of his own compositions, the pastoral windswept “Introspection on 401” (a Canadian freeway) and similar sounding, but with modern tango accentuation, “A Change in The Wind.” It was adorned by McComas-Reichl gorgeously playing the melody line. Additionally, the pianist played solely the classical and Philip Glass-styled “Tesla Coil” as a tribute to the innovative inventor/futurist Nikola Tesla.
Shifting to vibrant hardbop was Herbie Hancock’s “Oliloqui Valley” that spotlighted the bandleader’s impressive piano mastery, trio cohesion and included a pulsing drum solo. Somewhat related to the Hancock piece was the bandleader’s engaging neo-bop styled “Forward Momentum” from his Project Discovery collection that was bolstered by a fiery drum solo.
Vocals for the program were initiated by Grace, who began hauntingly and wordlessly, before the trio coolly eased in to join her for Jobim’s bossa gem “Chega de Saudade (No More Blues).” She continued breathtakingly singing “Moraes” a beautiful French lullaby with bowling bass and light piano support.
From a classical/cabaret/opera standpoint, soprano Sengpiehl powerfully sang in German and English Kurt Weill’s “Nana’s Lied” with only piano and McComas-Reichl superbly playing cello. In the same configuration with light drumming, she did a medley of Fernando Obradors’ “Del Cabello Mas Sutil” and Nelson’s forlorn ballad “Tiburcio.” It’s an homage to Tiburcio Vásquez the legendary bandito who during the early 1870s hided out in Vasquez Rocks, now a park in Northeastern LA County.
Grace returned with more boundless and buoyant singing for her own indie pop styled “Like a Radio,” “How You Loved Me on Mars” that was co-written with Nelson, and his uplifting salute “Ah, Los Angeles!” also from the Discovery Project. Sengpiehl also came back to gloriously sing “Feed The Birds” from the film Mary Poppins, which was Walt Disney’s favorite song. Because Nelson’s father was a Disney Imagineer during the ‘80s and ‘90s, he always includes a Disney song in his shows.
Closing out the far-reaching program was Grace and Sengpiehl dynamically and expressively singing Sondheim’s “Sunday.” It was dedicated to super jazz patron Dan Davilla, who recently has been hospital bound. For more info go to: www.joshnelsonmusic.com and bostoncourtpasadena.org.
Emcee Ed Helms, an actor, comedian, writer, and singer summed up Rhiannon Giddens before she began performing at the Hollywood Bowl. “She’s a “Grammy-winner, MacArthur Genius, Pulitzer Prize Recipient, a host, a scholar, a composer, a fiddler, banjoist, and a time-traveler. She’s collaborated with everyone from Yo-Yo Ma to Beyoncé. But more than any accolade, Rhiannon is a truthteller. She’s brought the deep-tangled roots of American folk into the light, especially the African-American history at the heart of old-time and banjo traditions. She does it with a blend of scholarship, soul, rigor and radiance.”
Afterwards, Giddens greeted the audience saying, “Welcome to my porch. It’s a little bigger than it usually is. But we’ve been traveling around bringing our old-time American music to so many people. This night is so special and I can’t believe everyone I asked to do this said yes!” Then she commenced, solely singing and playing guitar for folk music pioneer, Elizabeth Cotten’s “Freight Train.”
Amongst the headliner’s many friends scheduled for the extraordinary Old Time Revue were Our Native Daughters. It was comprised of four African-American female banjo players, Amythyst Kiah, Allison Russell, Leyla McCalla and Giddens. They were backed by Russell’s Rainbow Coalition Band and exhibited skillful playing, enthralling singing/harmonies and wisdom for a pre-Juneteenth celebration through their original songs. They were Etta Baker/Piedmont blues tribute “I Knew I Could Fly,” hoedown styled “Polly Ann’s (John Henry’s wife) Hammer,” Frederick Douglas inspired ballad “The Sun Without the Heat” and four hundred years of history crammed into three minutes, hard-edged “Black Myself,” with the audience singing the chorus.
The second half of the program led off with Alison Brown, a So Cal-native, Grammy-winning banjo player and Co-Owner of Compass Records with her husband, bassist Garry West. She impressed the crowd with her blazing picking skills for “Girl’s Breakdown,” strongly influenced by Earl Scruggs’ classic “Earl’s Breakdown.”
Following that, Brown with her band that included West, supported and sometimes were brunt of the world’s most famous banjo player comedian/actor/writer Steve Martin’s humor. He heartily entertained the audience with his quirky “I Can Play The Banjo,” top-charting “Foggy Morning Breaking” co-written with Brown, and traditional blue grass favorite “Cluck Old Hen” featuring Martin and Brown singing. Additionally, singer-songwriter Robbie Fulks was featured for “Five Days Out And Two Days Back.”
During the jammed packed show’s final moments, Giddens returned and heartfeltly sang with Helms blue grass/gospel themed “Talking About Suffering.” With the revue back, she got into a high powered blue grass/folk and country rollicking instrumental, Ola Belle Reed’s mighty “High on The Mountain” and a high spirited Cajun song. For more info go to: rhiannongiddens.com and www.laphil.com.
Los Angeles-based Grammy-winning Quetzal is a band that sings about oppression, inequality, culture and history of Latin and other communities of color. In reaction to the 1992 Los Angeles riots (ignited by the acquittal of the police officers involved in the 1991 Rodney King beating) and social movement efforts against the Proposition 187 campaign (that denied medical, public services and public education to undocumented immigrants and their children) Quetzal Flores-jarana/guitars/bajosexto/requinto doble and former Senior Organizer for Community Power Collective and Program Manager for the Alliance for California Traditional Arts (ACTA) (2012-2016) founded the group bearing his name.
His musical and life partner Dr. Martha Gonzalez-vocals/percussion/dancer joined the group in 1995 and is Associate Professor in the Intercollegiate Department of Chicana/Latina Studies at Scripps College. The other bandmembers are Tylana Enomoto-vocals/violin, Juan Perez-acoustic and electric bass, Alberto Lopez-percussion, Evan Greer-drums/percussion and son Sandino Gonzales-Flores on keyboards, flute and tres.
The collective performed at the Center For The Art of Performance at UCLA’s Nimoy Theatre, andbegan with a duet featuring Flores playing a Turbo Diddley guitar (sounds similar to a banjo) and Gonzalez singing compellingly for “Dreamers/Schemers.” With full band and the Turbo Diddley they continued with the rocking/world beat “Imaginaries.” “Wake Up Everybody” on the other hand was stripped down to just heartfelt vocal choruses, drums, the banjo-like instrument and violin to express the urgency of everyone in the community getting involved.
Keeping the vibe going was the indigenous sounding “Para Sanar (To Heal)” with the younger Flores on flute accented by violin solo, with a sizzling percussion jam erupting in the midst of everything to amaze the audience. In light of the present terror with I.C.E. the lead singer recalled “Luna Sol” a hard-driving ska-rocking song they wrote in 2003 about Proud Boy-type vigilantes assaulting Chicanos at the border that was narrated and sung in Spanish.
“Justice Never Dies” focused on the Pandemic and the Black Live Matter Movement, which coincided with it through an oldies styled ballad. It was gorgeously sung by Gonzalez with backing band choruses and the bandleader contributing a jagged but well suited guitar solo. The lead singer also inserted some tasteful and lively tapping/stomping into the set. Surprisingly, the band included a lengthy funk/fusion jam segment into the set and Gonzalez commented, “We’re a garage band, you‘all.”
From a more somber standpoint lullaby-like “Y Tu Veras (And You Will See Him) was written in memory of the bandleader’s grandfather, and also dedicated to recently departed Fred Frumberg, Acting Artistic and Executive Director for CAP UCLA. He insured that everything at the Nimoy ran smoothly and was perfectly executed. Afterwards, the band returned to festive tunes such as Lalo Guerrero, the Father of Chicano music’s “Los Chucos Suaves,” and their own “El Rio,” along with the soothing ballad “Todo Lo Que Tengo (All I am)” to draw an over the top standing ovation. For more info go to: quetzalela.com and cap.ucla.edu.
Alan Pasqua, pianist, former USC Chair of Jazz Studies, and his longtime friend/bandmate and educator (also at USC) Darek Oleszkiewicz (Oles) recently performed together at Sam First. In attendance, was none other than LA jazz impresario, singer and educator Ruth Price, who occasionally howled in delight when the duo played a motif or phase she especially enjoyed.
They opened with a couple of unannounced compositions from their latest album New Hope that were strongly influenced by Bill Evans’ and Keith Jarrett’s post-bop stylings. Pasqua, who also at one time worked with top-level rockers, such as Bob Dylan, Carlos Santana, Eddie Money and his prog-rock band Giant, showcased “Highway 14” from his 2005 album My New Old Friend. It was thematic and beautiful played, featuring serene solos from each musician.
Along the same lines was “God Only Knows,” composed by rock icon Brian Wilson who sadly recently passed away. Coincidentally, Pasqua’s daughter Greta, a singer/songwriter/guitarist in her own right, who performed with Wilson during his last two tours was in the audience. As a tribute to her, the duo tenderly played her namesake classically-tinged song from her father’s 2007 Solo record.
Breaking away from the contemplative tunes was a relatively new piece “Chilypso” that was an upbeat mix of Caribbean rhythms and Monk. Ending the engaging show positively was Pasqua’s “Dear Chick,” a blazing homage to one of jazz’s top masters Chick Corea. For more info go to: Instagram and samfirstbar.com.
New York-based pianist Noah Haidu and his super-star sidemen, bassist Buster Williams and drummer Lenny White, performed together at Catalina. The impressionistic styled bandleader admitted that his latest recording Standards III and the previous two before it were inspired by Keith Jarrett’s similarly titled albums, even though his sound is vastly different.
The trio opened with several relaxed tunes such as “Alone Together” from the new CD and, “Memory” that hasn’t been recorded or released yet. Afterwards, they transitioned to more up-tempo and connected playing. “Yesterdays,” and “I Got it Bad (And That Ain’t Good)” from Standards II were loaded with exhilarating solos and tradeoffs featuring each of them working out.
Not on any of the “Standard” records was “Redemption,” a hard swinging piece inspired by pianist Kenny Kirkland. He was an incredible artist who played with both Williams and White, and many others such as Wynton and Branford Marsalis, and Sting before his untimely death in 1998. For the closer the trio wrapped up the fast-paced set with an even-tempo version of the romantic standard, “Teach Me Tonight,” also on the new record. For more info go to: www.noahhaidu.com and catalinajazzclub.com.
Alto singer and seven-time Grammy Award Nominee, Nnenna Freelon engulfed the Nate Holden Performing Arts Center with torrents of superb singing, robust musical accompaniment and gritty/folksy dialogue as part of the Jazz Bakery’s Moveable Feast series. She burst on to the stage with “Changed” a new and lively testament to her recent transformation.
The title piece for Beneath The Skin was a beautifully sung and samba-driven ballad that described deep and lasting love. While, “Dark and Lovely” was jubilantly sung with Fats Waller stride piano motifs, propelled by Dave Loeb-piano, Steve Haas-drums and Jonathon Richards-bass in honor of the singer’s granddaughters. From a more mature perspective was Bessie Smith/Ma Rainey bluesy “Here’s Your Hat,” with modern touches and high-flying scatting.
Taking a break from the new material, the singer leisurely and stylishly showcased “The Very Thought of You” with trombone-like scatting and slow phrasing, and also a soul-stirring version of Billie Holiday’s “Lover Man” without trombone effects. In a mellower mood was “Skylark” done enticingly with only bass coolly backing Freelon’s deeply emotive singing. Catching the audience off-guard was a joyful and soulful take on the Stylistics’ 1972 silky R&B hit “Betcha by Golly, Wow” that resonated strongly with the audience who sang along.
Freelon returned to songs from her latest record with the sweeping “Widow Song.” It emotionally expressed her life and feelings after the passing of her husband of 40 years, Phil Freelon. Also, with reverence was “Oh! Susanna,” the only song on the album that she didn’t write. It was performed as an homage to the people who tragically suffered, and survived Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans ten years ago. Not to be forgotten, was everyone singing “Happy Birthday” to the Jazz Bakery’s visionaryArtistic Director and Founder, Ruth Price. For info go to: www.nnenna.com and www.jazzbakery.org.
Much like her contemporaries, bassist Stanley Clarke, keyboardist George Duke and flautist Bobbi Humprey, keyboardist/composer/producer/educator Patrice Rushen has been equally successful in mainstream/fusion jazz and in R&B/funk/pop. In 1972 fresh out of high school in Los Angeles, the classically trained pianist quickly established herself as a high caliber solo artist, composer, arranger and session player, releasing three albums, while attending USC between 1974 and 1977 on Prestige. Afterwards, she did sessions and toured with Jean Luc-Ponty, Donald Byrd and Eddie Henderson. Other well-known artists Rushen has performed with are Herbie Hancock, Prince, Lionel Hampton, Santana, Tom Jones, Nancy Wilson and Joshua Redman.
Rushen additionally possesses a voice coated in honey and changed directions by singing on her projects that intermixed contemporary jazz, funk, R&B and pop. Notably, her songs “Haven’t You Heard” and “Forget Me Nots,” were Top Ten hits on the R&B and club charts, and have been sampled countless times by hip-hop and pop artists.
The songwriter, musician, composer and arranger additionally has been Musical Director for Janet Jackson’s Janet tour, along with The Grammys (first woman), The Emmys, People Choice and NAACP Image Awards broadcasts. Furthermore, Rushen has scored and composed for films such as, Our America, The Killing Yard, Ruby Bridges, Men In Black and the HBO trilogy America’s Dream.
At Disney Hall, the four-time Grammy NomineeandformerDept. Chair Popular Music Program at USC’s Thornton School of Music did a two-part concert. The first was her Jazz Classics Band with Ernie Watts-sax, Reggie Hamilton-bass and Marvin “Smitty” Smith-drums. The second was simply, The Band and included Enzo Iannello-guitar, Rayford Griffin-drums, Andrew Ford-bass, Rastine Calhoun-sax, Chris Gray-trumpet and Alexis Angulo-keyboards/vocals.
Opening the first half of the concert and showcasing her jazz cred was Rushen’s post-bop up-tempo original “Shortie’s Portion” that featured Watts on tenor sax blazing away, and was on the bandleader’s debut recording Prelusion. She quickly changed things up with Keith Jarrett’s hard-bop/gospel spirited “Le Mistral,” meshed with the band’s grooving interactions and Smith’s powerful drumming.
Monk’s “I Mean You” had similar traits and was robustly played with Rushen and her sidemen all turning in energetic solos to further excite the crowd. For balance and a respite was another original, relaxed “Lil’ Bit” influenced for her smaller, but feisty grey hound with Watts playing soprano sax, and Ellington’s immortal ballad “In a Sentimental Mood.” Wrapping the set up with high flying velocity was Watt’s dynamic hard-bop original “Frequie Flyiers.” It began with him doing an extended solo intro on tenor and then playing intensely with the full band to draw zealous applause.
As expected, the second part of the program was vastly different and strongly resonated with the younger segment of the audience. In fact, it was more like a party filled with soulful singing, hot grooving and plenty of funk. Rushen was in her element as much as in the first set and soared with the opening jamming instrumental “Number One” that was powered by brass and a hard-hitting rhythm section. “The Hump,” Hang It Up” with choir-like singing, and Rufus/Chaka Khan-like “Music of The Earth” were funkier, and inspired many attendees to dance.
“Settle For My Love” was a sensual slow jam and spotlighted the bandleader’s angelic vocals with Angulo backing. A little later, “Song For a Better Day” showcased Calhoun’s ardent saxophone playing and the singers uplifting choruses to delight the crowd. Getting back to the appealing funk grooving was “Feel So Real” and Rushen’s most popular songs, pulsing “Haven’t You Heard” and sugary funked out “Forget Me Nots” to receive an enthusiastic standing ovation. For more info go to: patricerushen.com and www.laphil.com.
The Symphonic Jazz Orchestra led by Artistic Director and Conductor Mitch Glickman celebrated the music of Jack Elliott (Irwin Elliott Zucker) at CSULB’s Carpenter Performing Arts Center. Elliott who died in 2001 was a man of enormous talents, as a pianist, composer, arranger, songwriter and producer. He served as Music Director for the Judy Garland and Andy Williams TV shows, along with the Academy Awards, Emmy Awards, Kennedy Center Honors, 1984 Summer Olympics, and the Grammy Awards for its first 30 years.
Additionally, Elliott wrote the theme for the Night Court TV show, along with co-writing with Allyn Ferguson, Barney Miller and Charlie’s Angels. For film, he scored Sibling Rivalry, The Jerk, Oh God!, and Where’s Poppa? Furthermore, Elliott produced the Blade Runner soundtrack album with the New American Orchestra/American Jazz Philharmonic, which strongly influenced Glickman. He worked with the mega talented Elliott, who also created the Henry Mancini Institute for 15 years and carried on his mission with the Symphonic Jazz Orchestra after his death. In fact, many of the SJO band members were in New American Orchestra/American Jazz Philharmonic previously and took a bow.
Elliott commissioned over 100 works and premieres that laid dormant in a university library for over 20 years. Glickman, miraculously was able to acquire the pieces and will start presenting them to audiences, like the Carpenter Center concert. Making it all possible, was Elliott’s wife Bobbi and family, and Jane Cooper.
Getting the hour-long program underway was bassist/composer/arranger John Clayton’s 30-year old year Open Me First. Due to being on the road with Diana Krall, the composer wasn’t able to be at the concert. The Ellington-ish piece was in good hands with Glickman and crew, and swung coolly with symphonic touches.
SJO, additionally has a commission competition, named in honor of George Duke, who was the organization’s Co-Music Director for 10 years. Bevan Manson’s Iwataki, the 2023 Winner was premiered, and a balance of solemn classical and swinging jazz. It was a tribute to virtuoso scoring mixer and musician Joel Iwataki, whose work is often obscured. The composer described the basis for its creation, “I wrote “Iwataki” to depict in musical form a day in the inner life of one of Los Angeles’s most beloved yet often invisible members of its musical community.”
Saxophonist and longtime bandleader of the Yellowjackets, Bob Mintzer’s easy flowing and thematic “Then & Now” followed. Elliott commissioned the piece when the reedist was fresh out of college. Before playing he recalled his anxiety and limited experience with orchestras and big bands. He recalled asking large jazz ensemble icons Carla Bley and Gil Evans for advice. Bley told him, “Play something on the piano and write it down,” and Evans said he liked French horns and thanked him for subbing in his band that night. Whereas, Elliott during a chaotic session for a film score in New York influenced him through his actions or lack of them by being cool.
Concluding the program of commissioned compositions was saxophonist Ernie Watts’ (on soprano), grooving and classical romantic “Night Court Fantasy.” Watts has the distinction of having the longest tenure with Elliott of all the musicians, going back to working with him in LA during the late ‘60s while he was still a member of Buddy Rich’s Band for three and a half years. They met while Elliott was the MD for a Jackie Gleason special. After that gig, they continued working together on other TV shows, along with film/TV scores and jazz recording sessions.
He fondly remembered that no matter the theme, setting or general feeling, everything was fun with Jack (Elliott). Watts also made Glickman blush when he cited, “I met Mitch when he was an intern.” Continuing he stated, “Music is joy and that was what Jack was all about.” As a special bonus, Watts and Mintzer did a highly high-spirited impromptu jam of Monk’s “I Mean You” with the SJO rhythm players. For more info go to: www.sjomusic.org
Since winning the 2010 Thelonious Monk Jazz Vocal Competition and receiving three consecutive Grammys a few years later, Cécile McLorin Salvant has firmly established herself as a dynamic force in jazz and music in general. In that regard, the incredible, adventurous, and very intelligent singer delves into material, often obscure and esoteric that others of her ilk would never dream of taking on.
That was especially evident during her recent performance at the Center For The Art of Performance’s at UCLA’s Royce Hall. With a stellar backing trio, consisting of pianist Sullivan Fortner, bassist Yasushi Nakamura and drummer Kyle Poole, she freely trapesed through genres and moods with a sparse amount of jazz included. She admitted there wasn’t a setlist and the concert was mostly improvised. The audience loved that aspect of the show and were delighted as Salvant called out songs to her players and they sometimes rolled their eyes.
She began by doing a whirling/Broadway nuanced version of Bob Dorough’s hip-swinging “Devil May Care,” augmented by Fortner’s astounding soloing and band exchanges. From there the French/Haitian singer shifted to theatre with the torchy ballad “With Every Breathe I Take” from the 1989 musical City of Angeles. Continuing the scatter-approach was Burt Bacharach/Hal David’s poppy “Promises, Promises” from the film The Apartment. While Sting’s “Until” was gently sung with robust drumming and mysterious sounding keyboards.
Vintage blues is a mainstay of any Salvant concert and in that regard, she served up Bessie Smith’s “Haunted House Blues” that was enhanced by a bass solo and post-ragtime piano playing. Before getting into it, she briefly educated the attendees about the legend and recommended her box set anthology. Somewhat related was the stirring a cappella version of “John Henry (Wife)” with hand clapping, along with folky “They Call it Lonesome” by Connie Converse (born Elizabeth Eaton Converse). Salvant noted that the singer/songwriter whose talent and artistry were never widely recognized, mysteriously cut ties with friends and family in 1974, and no one knows of her fate or whereabouts.
The concluding segment of the diverse concert included swinging “Riding High” featuring Fortner and counterparts passionately working out to the audience’s delight. Sparse and dramatically played, “I Tried to Keep Our Love Strong” featured the pianist singing solely, and later as a duet with Salvant to further astonish attendees. Alternately, “Unforgettable” was tenderly sung in memory of Poole’s recently passed grandmother, and shifting up-tempo was “Trolley Song” that abounded with fast-paced operatic singing to garner a standing ovation.
For the encore the headliner went back to ancient times with “Black Wing And Silver Hue,” poet Tony Harrison’s translation of Aeschylus’ Greek tragedy Oresteia written in 5th century BC. The audience was so moved by the song that they chanted its verses with the singer. Unquestionably, Salvant’s artistry seems to be boundless. For more info go to: www.cecilemclorinsalvant.com and cap.ucla.edu
Two-time Grammy-winner and top-selling singer/pianist Diana Krall hasn’t released a new record since 2020 This Dream of You and remains as popular as ever, evidenced by her sold-out show at CSUN’s Soraya concert hall. With her longtime music colleagues and friends, John Clayton-bass, Jeff Hamilton-drums and Anthony Wilson-guitar, the bandleader took her adoring audience on a love cruise without having to travel anywhere, except to the venue.
“I Love Being Here With You” got the ship moving and was loaded with Krall’s signature mix of subtle swinging and sensuality. “Almost Like Being in Love” with bass only supporting her initially was steamy and filled with stylish piano playing and soloing. Keeping the love laden theme going was “Let’s Fall in Love” and the sultry “You Call it Madness” with a bowing bass solo that resonated with the audience.
For a little variety, the appealing bandleader exhibited her high caliber playing skills with a stride piano intro for easy flowing “You’re Looking At Me.” Somewhat similar structurally was the classic I’ve Got You Under My Skin” featuring Krall playing solely before the group slowly eased in and coolly engaged with her, much to the crowd delight. A drum solo intro also got the audience’s attention for “Just You, Just Me” that was garnered with spiraling guitar and drum trade-offs. Clayton was also spotlighted for his into accompaniment with the singer/pianist for Ellington’s blues-tinged romp “Do Nothing Until You Hear From Me.”
For a slight departure from love infatuation was “Devil May Care” that displayed Krall’s playful side, along Wilson ripping on guitar and Hamilton soloing intensely and explosively to closed the tune. Additionally, in the vein of being carefree was the Canadian native’s version of “I Was Doing All Right” that was lightly bumping, with stirring walking bass, and “I Just Found Out About Love” with ripping guitar and lively tradeoffs to draw a standing ovation,
For the encore, Krall delved into the tenderly sung “In the Wee Small Hours of the Morning” and Burt Bacharach/Hal David’s alluring “The Look of Love” with tasteful Latin flavoring to receive more adulation from the crowd. For more info go to: www.dianakrall.com and the soraya.org.
Celebrated reedist/vocalist Ken Peplowski and Grammy-nominated guitarist Diego Figueiredo were scheduled to perform together at the Moss Theatre as part of the Jazz Bakery’s Moveable Feast series. Unfortunately, Peplowski became too ill to travel, per his doctor’s orders, and Figueiredo gallantly played solely (a singer joined him later in the show). The Brazilian guitarist quickly made up for Peplowski not being there by dazzling the audience with his tantalizing fretting skills for “Somewhere Over The Rainbow.”
Figueiredo also charmed the attendees with his very likeable personality, while briefly talking about himself before playing Ary Barroso’s immortal classic “Aquarela do Brasil” better known as “Brazil.” The guitarist even took a moment to demonstrate some of his techniques, employing tremolo and arpeggio to sound like he was playing two different guitars at once for “Ava Maria.” Furthermore, he intermixed popular boleros “Quizás, Quizás, Quizás” and “Bésame Mucho,” which were his mother’s favorites. Not to be forgotten were Jobim’s bossa gems, such as “Wave” “Samba de uma Nota Só (One Note_Samba)” and of course “The Girl From Ipanema.”
The Sarasota, Florida-based guitarist shifted from Latin and Brazilian numbers to establish his jazz cred with an explorative and lightly textured version of “Take Five” with dashes of “Blue Rondo A La Turk” and Bach mixed in, and a Chet Atkins-like, tasty fretting rendition of “Tea For Two” to draw strong applause.
Additionally, his fellow countryman, singer Claudia Bossle, who he would be performing with as part of the Brian Simpson Band at the Java Jazz Festival in Jakarta, Indonesia, a couple of days later joined him. She sparkled for a gentle and easy flowing version of standard “Swing Low,” bossa tunes “Influencia do Jazz (The Influence of Jazz)” by Carlos Lyra and Jobim’s lesser-known, but hauntingly beautiful “Retrato em Branco e Preto (Black And White Portrait).”
During the concluding moments of the show Figueiredo let the audience pick the notes he would play for impromptu bossa and tango numbers that were impressive. He saved the immortal “Manha de Carnaval (Black Orpheus)” for the end and included jaunting jamming and snippets from other Brazilian songs. Bossle also rejoined him and melodiously sang “The Girl From Ipanema” to fully enthrall the audience. For more info go to: www.diegofigueiredo.com, www.kenpeplowski.com and www.jazzbakery.org.
Concerts in the Dome at Mt. Wilson Observatory’s Historic Dome of its 100-Inch Telescope, launched it mostly classical season with jazz featuring Peter Erskine & The Lounge Art Ensemble. Before the renowned drummer and his bandmates, saxophonist Bob Sheppard and bassist Darek Oleszkiewicz (Oles) got started the 108 year old dome was impressively opened and rotated so the audience was out of the bright sunlight. That was fairly exciting and presented a challenge for the trio to surpass the opening activity.
Undaunted, they coolly went about their business with an airy bop flavored original by the saxophonist that included a lengthy bass solo. The bandleader’s “David’s Blues” was an homage to the widely respected David Baker former Professor of Jazz Studies at the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music, where he attended college. It was full of rhythm changes, entrancing playing and soloing, including drums that reverberated throughout the observatory, much to the crowd’s delight. Keeping that vibe going was Wayne Shorter’s “Charcoal Blues,” which was stimulatingly peppered with Sheppard’s floating soprano sax, Oles resounding bass and Erskine’s thunderous drumming.
Taking a break from the intense workout was a breezy bossa tune that was elegantly adorned by tenor saxophone and effervescent drumming. Playing off the standard “Just in Time” was Erskine’s springy neo-bop piece “Worth The Wait,” featuring tight interactions and hot soloing from twww.mtwilson.edu/concerts/he trio. For the last tune, original “The Honeymoon,” Sheppard, Oles and the bandleader blazed away intensely to influence some of the crowd to seriously consider staying for the second show. For more info go to: petererskine.com, www.bobsheppard.net, and www.mtwilson.edu/concerts/.
The 40-piece Pacific Jazz Orchestra, conducted by Founder/Artistic Director Chris Walden, ended its second season with a bang at the Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts. The guest soloists for the special occasion were Walden’s longtime friend and collaborator, vocalist Tierney Sutton and reedist Anat Cohen. The bandleader never worked with Cohen before and she was strongly suggested by Sutton. Both artists were quite dynamic on a variety of levels and provided entertaining contrasts.
Walden’s sweeping thematic instrumental “No Bounds” started the concert and spotlighted the talents of pianist Josh Nelson with dazzling orchestration supporting and accentuating things. Afterwards, Sutton coolly purred for a string of songs that included “People Will Say We’re in Love” vividly enhanced by trombonist Andy Martin, Ivan Lins/Alan & Marylin Bergman’s extremely sensual ballad “Começar De Novo (The Island)” and Julie London’s utimate torch song “Cry Me a River.”
Cohen on clarinet was nuanced and swung with her choro-flavored original “Waiting For Amalia” (her niece). She also did a grandly arranged take on Wayne Shorter’s timeless “Footprints.” While her epically themed original “Valsa Do Sul (Waltz of The South)” was inspired by her visit to Iguazu Falls on the border of Brazil and Argentina that flourished with her and Nelson’s exquisite playing.
After intermission, PJO roared with a high voltage chart of Benny Golson’s immortal “Killer Joe.” From there, Sutton turned in a soulful and stylish interpretation of “Nature Boy” that was enhanced by a bold brass chorus. She additionally showcased her scatting skills for the intro of “I Get A Kick Out Of You” with just drums and piano, before the orchestra boldly kicked in.
Cohen continued to dazzle the audience with her jazzy and cool swinging “The Night Owl” that included a bit of call and response with SJO. In closing, she and Sutton finally came together for Jobim’s ever popular “Chega De Saudade (No More Blues).” It featured a solo vocal/scatting intro and swirling clarinet to an intoxicating rhythm from Walden and company to receive a hearty standing ovation. For the encore, SJO with Cohen, returned to Lins’ songbook with “Velas” a thematic number that Quincy Jones recorded on The Dude in 1981. For more info go to: www.pacificjazz.org and thewallis.org.
The Tokyo/Manila/LA Jazz Summit at Catalina was curated by vocalist/songwriter/producer and educator Cathy Segal-Garcia. It significantly highlighted musical, cultural, spiritual and human connections between the forenamed cities and was a very transformative evening. Singer Dolores Scozzesi got the celebration underway by reciting a poem by Fred LaMotte, a teacher, poet and interfaith chaplain with pianist Tamir Hendelman, bassists Edwin Livingston and Ahmet Sezin providing musical accompaniment.
Afterwards, warm opening remarks came from Japanese singer Charito, who organized the original Tokyo/Manilla Summit, Los Angeles’ Mon David, a Filipino-American jazz vocalist, composer, arranger, musician, poet and visual artist, and Segal-Garcia. Hendelman, an American/Israeli also talked about his homeland and its tradition of welcoming strangers, especially when he and his wife got lost while hiking and were taken in. That led to him performing the vibrant “Israeli Waltz” with guitarist Dori Amarilio (also from Israel), flautist Nori Tani, Sezin and drummer Chris Wabish.
With the same grouping, David returned to the stage to sing a Japanese folk song in both Japanese and English, and proudly named some great Filipino jazz musicians. In their honor he passionately sang and scatted a vocalese version of Charlie Parker’s “Anthropology” with trumpeter Nolan Shaheed joining in with hot soloing. Charito also came back to swing hard with strong singing and scatting for “Blue Skies” and “The Man I Love” with the same band. Tani played saxophone for the first song and guitarist Yu Ooka replaced him for the other tune.
Other singers making an impact for the special show were Alvin Reyes doing the popular Filipino movie theme “Ikaw” with Wayne Shorter flavoring through Tani’s sax playing, along with meshing Chet Baker and Jobim for “How Insensitive.” Cheryl Barnes sweetly sang the ballad “You Taught My Heart to Sing” and Abby Lincoln’s lightly jumping “Living Room” with a fresh band. It included, pianist Sam Hirsh, bassist Livingston, and drummer Lyndon Rochelle, with Ooka and Shaheed.
Segal-Garcia put a nice bow on the proceedings with the pianists sharing the bench and interacting tastefully for “I’m In The Mood For Love,” and with full ensemble for the universally themed “The Song.” She described it as, “embracing each other as humans.” For the grand finale, the other singers and musicians joined her for a rollicking interpretation of Parker’s “Now’s The Time” that overflowed with tangy scatting and soloing to receive an enthusiastic standing ovation. For more info go to: www.cathysegalgarcia.com and catalinajazzclub.com.
Seattle-based and West Virginia native, singer/songwriter Eugenie Jones grew up around music. Her parents were in the local church choir and also listened to Ray Charles and Nancy Wilson, along with her siblings being Motown fans. She though, didn’t get involved with music, until after establishing a successful career in marketing and her mother passing away from cancer in 2010. Subsequently, Jones discovered she had a gift for singing, composing, producing and arranging.
With a “take charge” spirit and persistence, she developed her craft, which overflows with soulfulness and timeless style. Additionally, Jones launched her nonprofit, Music for a Cause, was the executive producer of the Jackson Street Jazz Walk, co-produced the Celebrating Ernestine Anderson Tribute Series with the Crusaders’ Stix Hooper, and in 2023 the Jazz Journalists Association (JJA) awarded her the JJA Jazz Hero Award.
That drive and determination was evidenced at The Kookaburra Lounge, where Jones performed with a smoking trio consisting of Charles Love-Music Director/keyboards, Kiran Yamato-drums and Jeff Littleton-bass. The fiery alto singer’s originals, scorching and provocative “Swing Me” and exulting “A Good Day” definitely got the audience’s attention. For contrast, “Sitting at The Bar” spotlighted the singer’s feel for blues and conveyed a bad attitude.
For standards and covers, Jones “Eugenized” them with injections of sass, emotion and soul. Among them were “All of Me” featuring intense scatting and soaring piano, Littleton laying down a deeply funky bass foundation for “I Love Being Here with You,” and the headliner stunningly singing “What a Difference a Day Makes.” Jones and crew wrapped things up with a super funky version of “Summertime” that was wrought with expressive singing and hot jamming from the players. For more info go to: eugeniejones.com and thekookaburralounge.com.
From 1979 to 2021 the Hollywood Bowl hosted the Playboy Jazz Festival. In 2022 the annual Southern California jazz gathering became the Hollywood Bowl Jazz Festival. This year 2025, the festival was again transformed to become the Blue Note Jazz Festival as an alliance between the Los Angeles Philharmonic and the Blue Note Entertainment Group. The group has a network of clubs around the world, including the soon to be opened Blue Note Los Angeles that will be curated/programmed by Grammy-winning keyboardist/producer Robert Glasper. Additionally, the conglomerate manages several other jazz festivals, a cruise line and a travel subsidiary.
Notably, the iconic Blue Note Record Label is not part of the entertainment organization and is owned by the Universal Music Group, and managed by the Capitol Music Group. With that in mind, only a handful of the major jazz label’s artists performed at the BNJF and cumulatively were about 50% of all the jazz musicians performing.
Pertaining to the overall flow of the BNJF, emceed by comedian/actor Arsenio Hall, mainstream jazz was primarily a daytime activity. Like all the previous jazz festivals at the Hollywood Bowl, the BNJF began with youthful ensembles each day. For the first day, the LA County High School for the Arts flourished in the vein of the Hi-Los and Lambert, Hendricks and Ross with a talented coed vocal ensemble backed by a combo for “There’s a Lot of Living to Do” and Marvin Gaye’s immortal progressive soul hit “What Going On.” The big band component of the county high school played tunes more relatable to themselves. They were fusionish instrumental “Ocarina of Time” from the video game Legend of Zelda, and “Snake Eater” from the game Metal Gear Solid that included robust vocals from Ari Rodriguez.
The 2025 graduates of the Herbie Hancock Institute of Jazz Performance’s Ensemble at UCLA vividly exhibited their potential to become future jazz stars. Their highly engaging original compositions “Invisible Barrier,” “Sudden Shift” and gospel-tinged “Homish” were high caliber neo-bop and exhibited impressive playing.
On the following day The LAUSD Beyond the Bell All-City Jazz Big Band brilliantlyswung hard with well-known standards such as Wayne Shorter’s “One By One,” Sonny Rollins “St. Thomas,” and “All of Me” featuring Willow Smith singing. She who would showcase her own band the next day. Additionally, the big band was adorned by its vocal group who sung “Orange Colored Sky,” popularized by Nat King Cole.
Bridging the student groups and the professional artists was Los Angeles-based DC6 Singers Collective and their super jumping band, who originated in Washington, D.C. The band incorporated a rousing mix of gospel, R&B and pop songs. They started with Nina Simone’s highly evocative “Four Women” before shifting to Stevie Wonder’s heartfelt “Love’s in Need of Love Today,” soaring gospel “I Believe,” the Beatles inspiring“Blackbird” and Phil Spector/Ike & Tina Turner’s monumental soul rocking “River Deep, Mountain High.”
Shifting to the jazz artists on the first day was the highly acclaimed Baltimore-born trumpeter Brandon Woody. With his band Upendo (love in Swahili), he focused on his unadulterated mainstream compositions from his debut album For The Love Of It All (on Blue Note). Standouts that he blazed away on were the somber “Beyond The Reach Of Our Eyes,” “Never Gonna Runaway” adorned by Imani-Grace Cooper’s hypnotic vocals, and the thematic slowly unfolding “Wisdom; Terrace on St. Paul St.”
Fast-rising, five-time Grammy-nominated alto saxophonist, Lakecia Benjamin was like a shot of adrenaline when the Hollywood Bowl stage rotated her band to the forefront. In a “take no prisoners” mode, she roared straight out of the gate with a fast-paced John Coltrane styled number. She also celebrated Women in Jazz with rapid-five rapping and a fiery slightly Middle Eastern motif. Returning to honoring both John and Alice Coltrane, the young lion delivered a commanding interpretation of “My Favorite Things,” and also performed Patrice Rushen’s “Jubilation,” which included a heated jam with a guest percussionist.
The most traditional oriented of all the jazz artists at the BNJF was none other than Grammy/Tony-winning vocalist and NEA Jazz Master Dee Dee Bridgewater and Grammy-winning (Blue Note) pianist Bill Charlap. Despite nearly being drowned out by unruly crowd clamor, they superbly performed songs from their new project Elemental with high flying singing/scatting and amazing piano wizardry. Among the showcased tunes were Ellington’s “Beginning to See The Light,” “Caravan” and “Mood Indigo,” along with Fats Waller’s “Honey Suckle Rose” and Cole Porter’s “Love For Sale.”
The other festival mainstream offering was former Blue Note tenor saxophonist Joe Lovano’s Paramount Quartet. It included guitarist Julian Lage (on Blue Note), bassist Asante Santi Debriano, and drummer Will Calhoun. They began playing the bluesy neo-bop flowing tune “Congregation” layered with extensive saxophone and guitar solos, then “Amsterdam” with a drum solo intro and Coltrane’s mostly improvised “Brazilia.” The quartet also honored the bandleader’s departed friend Charlie Haden by doing his devotional themed “Psalm.”
Right before the sun went down, Multi Grammy and Latin Grammy-winning and NEA Jazz Master, bassist Stanley Clarke assaulted the BNJF with his N•4EVER band. The band included a brass section and consisted mostly of younger players, along with a couple of veterans. As would be expected, the fusion pioneering bassist played his breakout hits, funk/fusion rocking “School Days” and the R&B styled ballad “Sweet Baby” featuring vocalist Stefano Langone, all to the crowd’s delight. Violinist Evan Garr also shined brightly for “Brazilian Love,” along with the whole band getting down for the Clarke/George Duke monster p-funk classic “Mothership Connection.”
Bassist Derrick Hodge, also a Blue Note artist, busy producer, Music Director for Glasper and former Terence Blanchard band member presented a blazing mix of fusion, neo soul, hip-hop and jazz with his Color of Noize Band. Their vigorous set included “Fall” a flailing tribute to Wayne Shorter, a solo electric bass rendition of Stevie Wonder’s classic “My Cherie Amour,” the band’s gospel/fused/electronica rocking theme song, and hip-hop tunes with MC D Smoke from Inglewood.
Mohini Dey, a phenomenal young electric bassist from India has been shaking things up with a commanding sound influenced by bass legends Stanley Clarke, Marcus Miller, Victor Wooten and Larry Graham. She thoroughly impressed the audience with a charged band for high-energy. funky and fused originals “Introverted Soul” and “Meateater.” The bassist also got into rapid-fire raga scatting/chanting/playing, and wailed on hard-thumping “In-N-Out,” her dedication to the popular fast food burger chain.
St. Louis-based trumpeter/vocalist Keyon Harrold, who’s escalating in popularity shifted things to dreamy neo-soul and contemporary groove vibing. Melodic and easy-flowing tunes from his recording Foreverland, such as “Beautiful Day,” “The Intellectual,” the title track, and the super silky, soul-drenched “Don’t Lie” provided a soothing backdrop for dinner dining.
Latin Afro-Cuban rooted music came from percussionist/vocalist Pedrito Martinez. He’s considered the first world’s callrumbero, a person who passionately plays, sings, and dances. Martinez with his explosive group, powerfully chanted and played an intoxicating mix of rhumba, traditional Yoruba and street-like jamming. With some tunes from his latest album Ilusión Óptica included, he mentally transported the audience to his vibrant hometown, Havana Cuba.
Weedie Braimah and The Hands of Time were the only world music entry for the BNJF. The master djembe player, born in Guana and raised in East St. Louis, with his formidable ensemble delivered a potent melding of African percussion/poly rhythms, American jam band and funk. In totality they were a spell-binding mix of the Sahara band Tinariwen, Senegal’s Habib Koité & Bamada, the Dave Matthews Band and Morris Day And The Time.
Vocalist/dancer/actress WILLOW, the youngest artist to go double-platinum and daughter of actors Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith, returned with her dynamic all women-band. It included Dey powerfully playing bass and was edgy goth rock-like, resembling the urgency of Tori Amos and Alanis Morissette, with a taste of Frank Zappa thrown in. By means of assailing resonant tonality, she blazed through new songs from the album Empathogen. Included were “Home,” “I Know That Face” and softer sung “Between I And She,” along with older jazz rocking “T r a n s p a r e n t s o u l” to bring a Coachella-like vibe to the BNJF.
The remainder of the BNJF was relegated to party-time R&B, neo soul and hip-hop. New Orleans-based brass band The Soul Rebels came blowing strong for reveling songs “Turn It Up” and “Let’s Have a Good Time.” They also refined things with special guest, harpist Brandee Younger for some jazz instrumentals. While MC Rapsody unleashed a hip-hop mash of Phil Collins’ prog-rock “In The Air” and “No Kings,” and Goapele did “old school” ballad “I’d Rather Be With You.” De La Soul, forerunners of Gangsta Rap, made a triumphant return to the Bowl and took the audience down memory lane with mellow joints “Change in Speak,” “Potholes in My Lawn,” “Stakes Is High,” “Get By” and “Me Myself and I.”
The Isley Brothers, fronted by surviving siblings, vocalist Ronnie and guitarist Ernie closed out the first night of the BNJF with a serenading string of hits. Included were “(Who’s) That Lady,” “Between the Sheets,” “Groove with You,” “It’s Your Thing,” “For The Love of You” and “Shout” their first breakout song. Grace Jones who was the final artist for the BNJF, was very theatrical with a few props for songs. She captivated the audience with “Nightclubbing” by Iggy Pop, the Police’s “Demolition Man,” “Amazing Grace,” and “Love Is the Drug” by Roxy Music. For her own “Pull Up to the Bumper” Janelle Monáe joined her and “Slave to the Rhythm” featured Jones hula hooping. For more info go to: www.laphil.com.
Anything to be considered for this column can be sent to: chrisjwalker1@earthlink.net